Hello, it’s student blogger, Iyo! It’s been one month since I came to Baguio. Now that my first term (4 weeks) is over, it feels like one chapter just ended. From next week, I will have to be more serious. This essay is about the IELTS introduction (lecture) course of MONOL. During the first 4 weeks of studying in IELTS, you learn all about what the exam is like. The classes here are very important to build one’s foundation in IELTS.
I will introduce the lecture subjects along with the textbook contents
Reading Lecture
Those who have experienced taking the IELTS exam for the first time will be surprised at the number of English sentences in the reading test. You have to read sentences of about 3000 letters in 60 minutes. If you do not know what to do with it, it is tough to beat the time. The Reading lecture class will teach you how to solve this problem.
When you read long sentences, there are some points in the article that you need to take note of and there is some good content that needs to be skipped. I do not feel comfortable if I do not read all the sentences but I’m trying to correct my way based on what the IELTS exam requires. There are different types of queries found in the Reading exam. But before doing the exercises, it is good to know about some tactics on how to make the correct answer. After every exercise, there will be a discussion in class about it.
Listening Lecture
The flow of this class is similar to Reading, but you listen to an audio file passage to answer the questions, and afterward, get some explanations. I think, depending on the classroom, the speakers sound bad and there’s so much noise so when taking the exam, you cannot ask the teacher to repeat and listen to it again. Even if this is only a practice exercise, I would like to have a good sound system. Sometimes, I could not listen very well that I just wrote down all the wrong answers. At least after those exercises, we had a discussion about the correct answers and the audio passages were repeated as well. It is also an advantage if you learn how to grasp the point of the passage although you do not hear it on the spot.
Writing Task 1 and Task 2
Many students choose Writing for their elective one-on-one lessons unless there is a different need. In other words, Monol can provide 3 to 4 hours of writing classes to the students in a day.
Since I have a lot of classes in writing, I get used to writing early. But then, I also have a lot of homework. In the actual class, you first learn how to write about various kinds of themes. This comes after brainstorming with group class members, understanding the template for writing, and considering the different approaches to answering questions or problems. If you write down all ideas from brainstorming as is, you will find that what you wrote is lacking in content. That is why you have to decide on your concept and how to express your viewpoint before writing.
Do you know the term “paraphrase”? I’m pretty sure all IELTS students have heard this word plenty of times from their teachers. This means, “to express ideas of the same thought but in different words”. In the IELTS writing test, this is very necessary. As much as possible, don’t use the same words or phrases. In other words, you have to have abundant vocabulary and expressions. Since I hear about paraphrasing from my teachers over and over again, I was convinced that this was the reason why there are so many related words presented in our IELTS books.
Example: LEGITIMATE: lawful, legal [illegitimate, illegal]
Since paraphrasing is not only essential in writing but also in other subjects, let’s try to learn from and always be aware of our daily lessons.
Speaking Lecture
Speaking is one the most difficult subjects for me. Apart from the fact that I am not very good at speaking in English on a regular basis, the IELTS speaking exam is totally different.
When you talk to your friend or teacher, you can say whatever you want to say the way you like to say it. But for the speaking exam, there is a theme and you have to answer logically. Actually, my friends usually speak English fluently, but I think that they will also think that the test is frustrating. The test is just like an interview and I always feel tense especially in one-on-one class.
It is a good thing that Monol has a lecture and practice course. The contents of these two courses are totally different. In the lecture course, you study the flow of conversations, how to assemble your thoughts and what expressions to use. In the practice course, you just apply what you learned from the lecture. It is not an exaggeration when I say that you will have a more effective practice if you take the lecture course as well.
In summary, the IELTS test does not focus only on the four skills. It does not only have MCQ (Multiples Choice Questions). Therefore, it is not enough to just know English words.
When you have a target IELTS score, long-term study is necessary that’s why studying it as early as possible is a good thing. I recommend that you study abroad in the Philippines because it is cheap and you can firmly concentrate on exam preparation!
By the way, as the term finished, many students graduated from Monol. Although my batch mates and classmates got really sentimental, I also think that this term is fulfilling. We had a fun class and afterward, we sang, danced, and played games.
Although I feel sad, new students will also arrive, so I’m thrilled to have new encounters. I will finally have a roommate as well!
I’m going to do my best and study hard for the rest of my stay here. Thanks for reading!
(by Iyo)